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11 Responses to “Justin Ahrens”

1. the cheech™

   Thanks Justin (& Mig) — culture is definitely key! I’m honored to be a product of this good advice (and more of Justin’s genius over the years), and to work with my friends at R29.

   
2. Bob

   Few understand culture and environment as Justin/Rule29 – the definitely embody the creative space I’d want to be in.
3. Stevie G the RDQLUS One

   Justin is my boy, but seriously his advice… ROCKS! I had to start out as an intern and then accepted an in-house design position with that same company (a financial institution). Learning the culture—or lack thereof—was the most important thing ever. That seemingly small thing allowed me to take ownership of the work and my job, while helping build that company’s culture thru internal marketing and creative work and giving a bit more importance to what they saw me bringing to the table.

   Man-hugs for both Mig & “JA Rule”!

   
4. Dave Duke

   Well said. Justin gets it…that creative matters. He understands the best place to work is one that stretches your abilities, rewards your successes and empowers you to help build something bigger.
5. Youssef Sarhan

   How does a studio strike a deal when it comes to non-profits? or are their any differences?
6. Justin Ahrens

   Youssef what do you mean? On work mix or pricing?
7. Youssef Sarhan

   Justin, I often hear people or studios saying they work with a lot of not-for-profit organisations. It it any different to work for those companies or is it just nice to mention because it’s a good cause?

   For instance, the work you did for American Red Cross, was there a lower budget as it is a charity? Is it a sort of pro-bono deal, or does a project with a non-profit company work pretty much the same as any other?
8. Justin Ahrens

   Youssef,

   Excellent question. I mention it because it’s part of our desired culture to work with organizations that are focused on the greater good versus just the bottom line. We are a for profit business of course, but doing something more impactful with the skills that all us creatives have is often more rewarding then just getting paid.

   For American Red Cross and many others we get paid, but most of the time the work is for a reduced or very reduced rate. Many others are pro-bono and some a standard fee.

   We treat all the projects the same we just tend to get more excited for the not-for-profit arena. Not only for the fun of it, but also the impact great strategic design can have for them. It’s exciting and more evident it seems because most not-for-profits we work with are small or regional offices. So our impact is very tangible.
9. Youssef Sarhan

   I completely agree with you, contributing to a greater cause is certainly an admirable reason to do such work. By helping spread the message you are in a sense part of the charity.

   Thanks for the response Justin, apprecaited. I’ll keep an eye your twitter.
10. sarit Hernandez

    Any tips for a stay-at-home -mom that is ready to jump back into the creative field as a graphic designer after 8 years? I got an associate degree and my portfolio is so old… well I am not old but not in my twenties anymore so, any advice of what should I do first to compete in this young creative field?
11. Justin Ahrens

    Sarit,

    You have skills that some of your younger competition does not have. Capitalize on that for sure. Also it’s going to be hard to get work if you don’t do some current projects. You can do some pro-bono work, update old portfolio projects, see if you can do some collaborative work, just do anything you can fit into your schedule that would peak some interest. I would not under price yourself to be competitive if you can avoid it. You could also blog or record the process as you go, that will help you be perceived as more current and could be fun.

    Just some thoughts – J